Jun 11, 2026
To come home to a house that’s been broken into is one thing. But to get there and find no home altogether is unimaginable. When Kentucky couple Lester Hurst and Helena Peters Hurst returned from an out-of-state work trip, the 26-foot home they designed and built from scratch had vanished, Realtor.com reported.
“We pulled onto our property after our trip and noticed muddy tire tracks,” Hurst told Realtor.com. “Then when we pulled up to where the tiny home had been, and it was gone. Our deck had been thrown aside. They cut the hitch locks off, took it off its blocks and pulled it out. All of our personal belongings were gone.”
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That includes priceless items like Helena’s deceased father’s pictures. Hurst said the thieves also broke into their storage and made off with generators and power tools. He told Realtor.com it was akin to a house fire, where “everything was gone.”
The couple had moved the tiny home to their 10-acre property in Burning Springs, Kentucky last year, a place where Peters Hurst said in a YouTube video they could trust their neighbors.
But they hadn’t gotten around to insuring it yet. And the wheels were still on the home, as the plan was to continue working on it before “closing it in all around.”
The Hursts are hoping to find their home and are using social media, visiting pawn shops and talking to neighbors about outdoor cameras. In a Facebook post, a commenter suggested doing a daily Google image search to see if someone is trying to sell it, to which Peters Hurst replied, “Yes it’s been shared in a few places already.”
Moneywise reached out to Helena Peters Hurst for comment but has not heard back.
A big problem with tiny homes
The Hursts aren’t the only couple to have faced a loss like this.
In 2024, another tiny house owner, Monica Badzinski, told Fox 23 News that her house had been stolen. Her home was located in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and was stolen despite it being hooked up to electrical, on cinder blocks and on a property with a locked gate.
Badzinski’s neighbor happened to notice the theft.
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“He says he saw four men in a UTV and a pickup truck. They came to my gate, they had some kind of saw, [and] they sawed through my lock,” she told Fox 23.
Other families have taken to social media to share stories of their stolen tiny homes and trailers too. So what protection is there for these homeowners?
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Insurance and assurance
While the Hursts didn’t reveal how much they spent on their missing tiny home, the average cost for this type of home is $30,000 to $60,000, according to Rocket Mortgage. That’s an investment worth protecting.
According to an Instagram post by Tiny House Giant Journey, owners should consider using a high-quality trailer hitch lock, installing a security camera system such as a ring doorbell or motion-activated flood lights and using stabilization jacks. Additional safety strategies include checking the trailer for welded loops or tie-down points to secure it to land, adding tire boots to make it hard to move and stowing an AirTag inside for discreet GPS tracking, the traveler added.
And of course, insurance. Requirements for coverage on a tiny home may vary by insurer and state. For example, Progressive doesn’t cover tiny homes under standard homeowner’s insurance. If it’s stationary, owners will need a mobile or manufactured home insurance policy.
But even within this coverage, there may be eligibility requirements around whether the home was self-built or factory-built, so it’s important you’re sure of what policy you’re buying. Theft of the home itself may also need to be added on to your baseline coverage, depending on the policy.
As long as you take the time to find the right insurance policy for your tiny home, you have a higher chance of being protected in the event of a loss that seems to be more common than many might think.
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Amanda Smith is an Australian freelance journalist and writer based in the New York City area who reports on culture/society, technology, and health.
